4 Digital Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses that propel growth

Marketing—an ongoing challenge for businesses

“Today, the biggest challenge that business owners face is marketing,” said Mead. She further explains that many business owners often assume launching a website will automatically attract customers and boost sales, but that’s rarely the case. With new websites getting published every second, the experienced ecommerce consultant feels that without a strategic marketing plan in place, it is extremely difficult to get noticed by potential clients.

Continuous investments in marketing is the key to long-term growth. However, newly established firms often tend to focus on direct sales rather than spending time and resources on building customer relationships and establishing brand awareness. “People spend a lot of time and effort getting the store up and running, and six months later, they complain about not getting any sales. When I ask them what they do for marketing, they’re like ‘Oh, I don’t have a budget for that’,” said Mead.

Mead explained that marketing can be done in two ways: free organic marketing or paid advertising. “Depending on the budget and resources, businesses must commit to at least one of them to grow their sales.” She noted that organic efforts like content creation, social media, and network marketing are free, but require time. On the other hand, paid advertising on platforms like Google, Instagram, and Facebook demands investment but delivers quicker results and higher sales.

Online marketing strategies that win customers

As technology advances, so do people’s buying patterns along with the marketing tools that reach them. While traditional channels like print ads and TV commercials are still in play, social media and digital ads are rapidly gaining momentum. With so many marketing channels available, it is difficult to understand which ones to use and when.

Whether you’re a new business looking for some cost-effective marketing strategies or an established small business struggling to get a grip on marketing, here are the four digital marketing strategies that Mead recommends adding to your marketing plan.

Create a compelling website

“Websites are now almost like a business card,” said Mead. She firmly believes that websites are essential for businesses, making it impossible to thrive without a web presence. “Even the companies that get away with not having an official website may have a presence on Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, or at least have a Google Business page.” She emphasized that a webpage not only influences a customer’s buying decision but also builds credibility for businesses. “Imagine someone looking for a business online only not to find them—this can even make them question whether it’s a real business,” said Mead.

Having a website definitely impacts sales, but when is the right time for a business to create one? “Creating a website should be part of the business launch,” stated Mead. With so many free tools available today, creating websites should be an easy task. “At first, businesses may not have much to include, but they can start with just two pages—one describing their business and a contact page with a simple inquiry form,” she added.

“Having a professional website instills confidence in your customers,” said Mead. During her career as a web-design consultant, Mead has faced a lot of people complaining about not making sales, despite having a website. When she took a look at them, what she found was a half-baked website. “The websites were a mess—the text was too hard to read, the colors were all weird, and font sizes were all crazy,” explained Mead.

Maintaining a professional website is the key to building credibility for your business, but how can one do that? “Businesses can establish credibility in three simple steps—secure a unique domain, set up a professional email address, and obtain a toll-free number for customer inquiries,” advised Mead.

She believes reviews and testimonials can further boost customer confidence. “Showcasing awards, seals of approval, or any other forms of recognition that demonstrate trust reassures your potential clients about the quality and reliability of your business,” Mead explained.

Create consistent content across multiple channels

When it comes to businesses, the customer is the king, but how do you graciously guide them to purchase your product? That’s where content marketing comes in. Content marketing is a strategy used by businesses to help their customers solve a problem or educate them about their products or services by producing numerous content pieces across various channels.

Even now, Mead still prioritizes working and scaling up her content. “In addition to the website, I have authored a lot of blog posts and created several YouTube videos showcasing my business. This ensures that when someone searches for me, either the articles or the videos will pop up, which in turn builds credibility,” said Mead.

Mead previously relied on referrals but now actively participates in online communities where people look for website assistance. “I frequently answer questions and offer a lot of advice for free, and as a result, many people reach out to me when they need professional assistance,” said Mead.

While digital content helps businesses reach customers, exceptional service turns them into advocates who spread the word offline too. “I often hear from past clients even after four or five years. They either refer a friend or come back with a new business because they were happy with my work before,” said Mead. Maintaining a presence both online and offline not only solidifies your business’s brand but improves legibility.

Reach out through personalized email campaigns

Personalized marketing comes in different forms. This might include displaying a welcome message to your returning customers or personalizing their feed based on past actions. However, personalizing your marketing activities requires customer insights, and gaining access to this information can be the trickiest part.

“With privacy laws and people’s concerns about cookies, there’s always a limit on how much information you can collect, but at the same time, having the information allows companies to provide more personalized recommendations,” said Mead.

Businesses can deploy a marketing activity personalized to their customers without exploiting their personal information by setting up email campaigns for existing customers or anyone signing up for marketing emails. “Email marketing is still one of the most profitable ways to generate sales,” said Mead.

These campaigns typically target people who are interested in products that a business sells. When asked how businesses can optimize their email campaigns, Mead suggests A/B testing. “If a business has 1,000 people on its email list, it can test different subject lines by sending emails to a sample of 100 recipients, divided into groups. The subject line that gets the highest open rate can then be rolled out for the remaining 900 recipients,” said Mead.

Of course, with entrepreneurs juggling multiple tasks, it is difficult for business owners to invest time in creating a successful email campaign. That’s why Mead recommends her clients adopt email automation.

“Based on customer behavior, an email platform can create automated email flows. For instance, after a purchase, businesses can send a thank-you email with a discount for the next order or recommend complementary products based on their previous purchase,” added Mead.

No matter how an email campaign is structured, Mead believes its success lies in personalizing the content to match customers' interests.

Analyze your activities using marketing KPIs

“There’s a ton of metrics, and I think a lot of it boils down to your particular business,” said Mead. While metrics vary for each business, she highlights a few marketing KPIs that every business should know.

The first one on the list is conversion rate. Conversion rate is a percentage that typically displays the number of users performing a certain action. This can be the number of clicks that your website gets, making a purchase, or downloading a resource. “For example, if you are getting 2 orders out of every 100 visitors, then your conversion rate is 2%,” Mead explained.

The next KPI that businesses should focus on is the average order size (AOS). It is a metric that tracks the average amount a customer spends per order. Understanding AOS is important because, it helps businesses analyze its customers' behavior. “Even if businesses can’t improve the conversion rate, increasing the AOS will help them get more revenue,” she said.

Lastly, “the repeat customer rate is a metric that measures how frequently individual shoppers make purchases from your business.” Having a good grip on these metrics helps businesses adjust their marketing ROI based on their revenue.

“If a business spends $500 on Google and Facebook Ads, analyzing the revenue generated from these channels helps determine whether they are the right platforms to reach the target audience,” suggests Mead.

The bottom line

“Honesty and transparency are essential for any business,” said Mead. While marketing helps attract the right audience, building lasting customer relationships requires delivering exactly what you promise. When businesses uphold their commitments, they not only earn trust but also turn satisfied customers into loyal advocates.

“If you truly care about giving your customers a great experience, they’ll feel it and they’ll want to share it, turning your business into a name that people trust and recommend,” said Mead.